


Pretty Close to Everything I Ever Wanted

by crisiskris



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Episode Tag, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:34:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25582174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crisiskris/pseuds/crisiskris
Summary: Eve accidentally witnesses a bit of sweetness she shouldn't know about
Relationships: Jenkins | Galahad/Ezekiel Jones
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	Pretty Close to Everything I Ever Wanted

**Author's Note:**

> Episode tag for Season 2 episode 6, "And the Infernal Contract". 
> 
> I am new to the fandom and have not seen the whole series. I had to stop and write a tag to this episode after watching the interaction between Jenkins and Ezekiel at the start, when they were bantering about what "everything I ever wanted" would like for Ezekiel. 
> 
> I own nothing and mean no harm.

Things were calm all evening as the librarians-in-training slowly recovered from the after-effects of gas inhalation. Eventually, they had found the strength they needed to stumble off to their own rooms, and the main annex had been abandoned along with the cots that Jenkins had pulled out of who-knows-where once Sesselman had been defeated. Jenkins had puttered off with his artifacts and books, and now only Eve sat in the darkened room, where she had been for a number of hours, reflecting on Jenkins’ kind words to her earlier that evening.

She had been surprised at the depth of emotion in his voice when he told her she’d done an admirable job as guardian, but it pleased her. It had been on her mind for a while how much their appearance had disrupted his life, especially after what had happened with Prospero. Eve hadn’t really agreed with Flynn’s approach with Jenkins upon finding out that the older man had kept secret the disappearance of artifacts from the library. She would have spent a little more time investigating the ‘why’ and less time on the consequences. She’d kept quiet because she figured Jenkins’ pride had already taken enough of a hit, but now it occurred to her that maybe they should talk – not about what he did wrong, but about how he was managing. God knows he’d extended the courtesy to her on more than one occasion.

So, finally, she found her feet and strode into the depths of the library in search of the old caretaker. She heard him before she saw him and was heading in his direction when she realized that he was not alone. Intrigued, she stuck to the shadows, creeping up to the open door of one of his many labs. She wasn’t intending to spy exactly, but more to ensure that she wasn’t interrupting. And then she got close enough for visual contact and stopped dead in her tracks.

Jenkins was seated on one of his stools, turned away from his lab table, with his legs planted. Ezekiel Jones stood between those long legs, leaning into Jenkins’ chest, head tipped up. They were kissing.

Eve’s eyes widened. _Okay,_ she thought. _Did *not* see that coming_. Poor Cassandra was going to be heartbroken; she’d been nursing a fairly substantial crush on the older man. But at least it wasn’t another woman, Eve mused as Ezekiel snuggled closer, his hands curling into Jenkins’ hair.

Jenkins’ gasp of pain was audible, and Eve found herself taking a step forward before she remembered how incredibly intrusively she was behaving and how embarrassed Jenkins would be if he discovered her there.

“Jenks, man, that’s quite a goose egg,” Ezekiel said, pulling his hands away, standing straighter to peer at the older man's scalp.

“It’ll heal,” Jenkins replied, reaching for the younger man, but Ezekiel slid out of his grasp, shaking his head.

“Come on, now,” he replied. “You’re always so good at taking care of me – my turn.”

Jenkins sputtered over some response, but Ezekiel had already skipped away to the door on the far side and disappeared through it. Eve watched Jenkins as he watched Ezekiel’s every move, touched by the open adoration on the older man’s face. _Somebody’s certainly smitten_ , she thought.

Moments later Ezekiel reappeared with an ice pack and a med kit. He set them down and turned to Jenkins. “Here we go,” he said. “Why don’t you tell me where it hurts.” Jenkins rolled his eyes and Ezekiel laughed. But a moment later the young man’s smile faded, and he said, “No, seriously, mate, what happened?”

Eve listened as Jenkins explained about the tunnel caving in on top of him, smiling as the old man finished, grumpily, “I liked that suit.”

Ezekiel wasn’t smiling. “Anything broken?” he asked.

Jenkins waved one hand dismissively. “A rib or two at most,” he answered.

Eve’s smile fell off her face. Broken ribs? He’d been fussing about with all of them for hours and he had broken ribs? _Idiot man_ , she thought.

“Idiot,” Ezekiel said, apparently reading her mind. He reached for Jenkins’ bow tie, his nimble fingers easily undoing it and setting it aside. Eve watched as those fingers then made quick work of the buttons on Jenkins’ shirt before gently moving to slide his suspenders off his shoulders. Jenkins had his head bowed, holding very still. Eve wondered how long it had been, before they came into his life, since Jenkins had been really touched, and found herself moved by Ezekiel’s tenderness as he eased Jenkins’ shirt off.

“Jesus, mate,” Ezekiel said. “Here, turn around, lean on the desk.” He helped Jenkins shift on his stool. Eve caught a glance of the old man’s back; it was cut and scraped in several places, and large, ugly purple-black bruises were blooming across his shoulder blades and down his spine. Jenkins hissed as Ezekiel bent him forward to brace against the table, one hand coming up protectively against his right side, giving away which ribs were broken.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you,” Ezekiel whispered, reaching around the larger man, and snagging a salve out of the med kit. Eve watched as Ezekiel very carefully spread the salve over the bruises and Jenkins slowly relaxed. She felt sympathetic relief; Jenkins had used that very salve on her more than once, and it was wonderful. And, she noted more clinically, Ezekiel had clearly been paying attention to the first aid lessons she’d given; he bound Jenkins’ broken ribs as good as any medic could have done before slipping the older man’s shirt back on and buttoning him up. He left the braces down.

“Let’s find somewhere a bit more comfortable,” he suggested, and supported the old man as he slid stiffly off the stool, holding on to one arm as Jenkins limped across the room to a nearby easy chair. “Better?” Ezekiel asked, once he had him settled.

Jenkins nodded, clearing his throat. “Thank you,” he said quietly. “It wasn’t necessary.”

Ezekiel pulled the ottoman up so that he could sit close, leaning forward to lay his hands on Jenkins’ knees. “Course it was,” he replied, meeting Jenkins’ eyes seriously. “I love you, Jenkins. I don’t want you to be in pain, not even for an hour or two.”

Eve’s eyebrows raised in surprise. Love? That was really unexpected.

Jenkins seemed uncomfortable; he was blushing and looking away. But Ezekiel just smiled, squeezing his knees. “You don’t have to worry about it,” he said. “You’ll say it when you say it.”

Jenkins glanced at him, giving him a sweet, sad smile. “I will say it,” he promised. “One day.”

“I know, mate,” Ezekiel said cheerfully. He leaned back, giving the other man some space. “So,” he carried on. “The devil appears as whatever you desire most, and you say Katy Perry, wearing the crown jewels, holding a wad of cash, with an unnatural attraction to young Aussie boys?”

Jenkins grinned. “I saw the look on your face,” he replied. “I had to say something that would shut you up, or you would have given us away.”

Eve swallowed a laugh, watching as Ezekiel gave Jenkins an exaggerated ‘who, me?’ look.

“Well, you have to admit, Sesselman did come pretty close to everything I ever wished for,” the younger man replied.

“I beg your pardon?” Eve caught the undertone of worry in Jenkins’ voice and felt a momentary pang of anxiety on his behalf, but Ezekiel just grinned, a bit wickedly.

“I told you – old, immortal, powerful,” he replied. Jenkins gave him a dirty look, but his eyes lingered longingly on the younger man’s face. Ezekiel saw the look and responded to it, scooting closer again. “What about you, old man?” he said. “What would Sesselman have looked like if he’d appeared to you?”

Jenkins smiled. “A young Aussie boy with an unnatural attraction to old immortals,” he replied fondly. Ezekiel leaned over and kissed him, carefully planting his hands on the winged back of the chair and not on Jenkins’ body. Jenkins returned the kiss, his hands resting on Ezekiel’s waist.

“How long will it take for you to heal?” The question was full of promise and Eve found herself blushing at the desire in Ezekiel’s voice.

Jenkins shook his head. “I’m sorry, my boy. I’m afraid you’re on your own tonight,” and pushed him gently away. Ezekiel pretended to pout for a minute, before leaning back in for a more chaste version of the previous kiss.

“Rest,” he whispered, and left the older man to drowse, returning to the table to clean up the med kit.

Eve took this as her cue to get out before she got caught, but as she stepped backward, Ezekiel looked up, and their eyes met. His eyes widened, and then narrowed, and she held up her hands in supplication, mouthing, “I’m sorry.” She held her breath, brow creasing with worry. Ezekiel glanced back at Jenkins and then over to her. She shook her head vehemently and mimed zipping her lips. “I swear,” she mouthed.

Ezekiel seemed to consider something. Then he turned slightly and called over his shoulder, “Hey Jenkins?”

“Hmm?” the older man opened one eye to regard his young lover.

“I’m not saying we need to, anytime soon, but just – if we were going to tell someone, who would you start with?”

Jenkins smiled. “Eve,” he answered matter-of-factly, and his eye slipped closed again.

“Good choice,” Ezekiel answered, looking over at Eve with a knowing smile. “I’m sure she’ll be very understanding.” Eve nodded.

“Mmm.” Jenkins was nearly asleep, oblivious. Eve glanced at him fondly as Ezekiel made his way toward the door. She followed him down the hall, both of them moving on silent feet until they were far enough away to not disturb the healing man.

“Jones, I am so sorry,” she said as soon as they were able to talk. “I didn’t intend to eavesdrop. I was just coming to check on Jenkins and I saw you and…” she trailed off, embarrassed.

But Ezekiel didn’t look mad. “You were coming to check on Jenkins?” he said.

“Well, yeah. I mean – someone’s got to take care of him, right?” She smiled. “I’m glad that someone is, by the way.”

Now it was Ezekiel’s turn to blush.

“How long has this been going on?” she asked.

“A while. The first time I kissed him was after the conclave. But it took a few months after that before he’d let me do it again.”

Eve nodded. “I can’t imagine it was easy getting through those defences,” she answered. It had been one of the first things she’d noticed about Jenkins – he had walls around his heart that were about a mile high.

“Yeah, well, Ezekiel Jones doesn’t do ‘easy’. He does impossible.” He grinned. Eve rolled her eyes. “But listen, Eve – he’s not ready for people to know. He gets overwhelmed pretty easily, emotion-wise.”

“I’m really glad that you seem to be working out,” she said sincerely. “And I don’t want to do anything that would jeopardize that for either of you.”

“Thanks, Eve,” Ezekiel relaxed, looking relieved.

“But if you hurt him, librarian or not, I will break you,” she finished.

Ezekiel grinned. “Noted,” he said, in a perfect imitation of his lover. He glanced back toward the lab.

“Go, take care of him,” she nodded toward the door. She left them together, walking back to her room through the dark, silent library. _That’s another job done_ , she decided. It looked like Jenkins was managing just fine.


End file.
